Search - Mahler, Kletzki, Vpo :: Sym 1 Lieder Eins Fahrenden Gesellen

An Incomplete Mahler First

Jeffrey Lipscomb | Sacramento, CA United States | 05/11/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Paul Kletzki was an erratic Mahler conductor. While his Mahler 4th with the Philharmonia is one of the all-time great readings of that score, this Mahler 1st with the Vienna Philharmonic has some serious shortcomings. Unlike Horenstein's great First on Vox, this Kletzki fails to take the repeat in the 1st movement, thereby destroying its balance. Even worse, there is a 16 bar cut in the coda of the finale - when I first heard it on LP, I got up to see if my needle had skipped! Kletzki made even larger cuts in his Mahler 9th with the Israel Philharmonic, once on Angel LPs.I would skip this Kletzki First and seek better alternatives. My favorites in stereo are Horenstein's later LSO recording on Unicorn and the Kubelik/Bavarian Radio on DG. Some mono issues worth a hearing include Horenstein's early Vox CD (my over-all favorite) and two "sleepers" - the F. Charles Adler/Vienna Sym. live 1952 concert reading on Tahra (coupled with a fabulous Bruckner 6th), and the Ernest Borsamsky/Berlin Radio (Dante/Lys).
Forget this Kletzki - it does not represent him at his best."

Magnificent Mahler

Michael B. Richman | Portland, Maine USA | 12/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This was an impulse buy that I tossed in my Amazon shopping cart a few months back in order to get free shipping. This budget-line title from the Disky label, which licensed these recordings from EMI, features Paul Kletzki conducting the Vienna Philharmonic in Mahler's Symphony No. 1. My first introduction to Kletzki as a conductor was via a now out-of-print EMI Seraphim of the 2nd Sibelius Symphony, and the volume dedicated to him in the "Great Conductors of the Century" series (see my review of the latter). The liner notes of the Great Conductors disc heaped praise on Kletzki's Mahler performances, and it's easy to see why. This account of the 1st, along with his Mahler 4th and the Adagietto from the 5th featured on the now out-of-print EMI "Artist Profile" title, are magical, full of powerful expression, revealing the vast intricacies of the music. Even after a first listen I knew it was a performance in the same league as venerable titles by Kubelik, Bernstein, Walter and Scherchen (alas I still need Horenstein). Tacked on to the end of this disc is Janet Baker's incomparable 1967 recording of "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen" with Sir John Barbirolli and the Halle Orchestra. Serious Mahler fans will already have this performance on EMI's "Great Recordings of the Century" title, but its inclusion here is terrific, aside from annoying duplication. And at this price, I can even overlook the redundancy."